Family historians generally know that federal immigration records begin in 1820, but has anyone stopped to wonder why? Well, it all began with the Steerage Act of March 2, 1819 (which went into effect on January 1, 1820). Traveling conditions aboard ocean-going vessels were anything but good in the early 19th century, especially for general … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Why do immigration records start in 1820?
Our next Users’ Group meeting will be held at the National Archives in Washington, DC, in room G-24, on Friday, June 25, 2010, at 1pm. The agenda for the meeting includes Update on Renovation WiFi Update A-1 researcher tables Saturday pull pilot Rolling pulls at A-1 Digitization update Inaccurate pulls at A-1 Web redesign- Green Bags update … Continue reading Join us for the DC-Area Users Group Meeting on Friday, June 25th
Continuing on the theme of vital records that were intentionally created by the federal government--in this case the U.S. military. You may not be aware that many military posts maintained their own burial records for deaths that occurred among both military personnel and (sometimes) the nearby civilian population. Among the many responsibilities of the post … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: More military vital statistics–quartermasters' burial records
Several people suggested at the two planning meetings in May that we draft some templates that could be used as starting points for pages in the Archives wiki pilot project. We have done that and added them to the planning wiki we set up in preparation for the launch of the Archives wiki. There are … Continue reading Templates for the National Archives wiki pilot project
The minutes from the Researcher Users' Group meeting on May 21st (PDF) are now available on the Archives.gov page for the Researcher Users Group at the National Archives in the Washington, DC Area. Please join us for the next meeting on Friday, June 25th, 2010 at Archives I in Washington, DC (room G-24). What topics would … Continue reading Minutes from the May 21st Researcher Meeting
Recently, a colleague of mine received a reference request that highlights a common misperception some people have regarding original records. The request involved a researcher who complained that their family name had been misspelled on the 1930 census and they wanted the National Archives to “fix” the mistake. Now, most expert researchers know that original … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Preserving the integrity of original records…including the mistakes!
In a previous blog post, my colleague Katherine talked about vital statistics that sometimes show up in federal records. I thought it might be worthwhile to point out that, under specific circumstances, vital records were also intentionally created by the government, particularly the U.S. military. In our vast collection of records relating to 19th-century military forts--all … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Vital Statistics in Military Records
Our next Users’ Group meeting will be held at National Archives at College Park, in lecture room C, on Friday, May 21, 2010, at 1pm The agenda for the meeting includes Briefing on Archives II Reference Studies Updates on: Presenting the “Know Your Records” series as webinars Current Digitization Activities We hope to see you there!
We’re launching a public wiki pilot project that will allow researchers, historians, archivists, and citizen archivists to create pages on records or themes. We need your ideas and enthusiasm to make the wiki a success. Please join us for the second planning meeting at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, on Wednesday, May 19th from … Continue reading Join Us May 19th for an Archives Wiki Planning Meeting
Please join us for the next meeting of the DC-area researchers' group on Friday, May 21, 2010 at Archives II in College Park in lecture room C. If you have any topics for the agenda please let us know here on NARAtions by May 19th and we’ll pass your ideas along to the Customer Services … Continue reading Join us for the next monthly DC-area researchers' meeting on May 21st at 1 pm
